After mysteriously disappearing from a fishing trip off the coast of California in 2005, the singer's former beau Patrick McDermott was presumed dead. However, many skeptics believed the tragic tale didn't add up.

After years of searching for the missing man, a group of private investigators hired by Dateline NBC were finally able to locate the Korean-American lighting technician alive and living in Mexico, according to E! Online.

The private eyes, led by Texas-based investigator Philip Klein, reportedly tracked McDermott down after noticing that a collection of centralized IP addresses were logging onto the Web site that followed his presumed whereabouts.

The addresses led the investigators to the Mexican-Pacific coast near Puerta Vallarta, where McDermott had been living under his birth name.

After they were able to retrieve "documentation and voice imprints" from him, Klein called an official end to the hunt, saying they had "concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. McDermott is alive."

"Mr. McDermott's wishes, according to his counsel, is not to be 'hounded' any longer by investigators or the media," Klein said last week at a press conference.

However, McDermott will still have to face police.

During his nine-year relationship with the Australian singer, McDermott filed for bankruptcy from owing more than $30,000 debt. After the couple split in 2005, he mysteriously vanished after allegedly falling overboard from a chartered fishing boat.

Though the Coast Guard believed he drowned, many believed he staged his death in order to cash in on a $100,000 life insurance policy for his son.